Grounded in Safety: T.J. Lyons on rethinking working at height

As one of the most outspoken critics of construction safety practices in the US, T.J. Lyons has some straightforward advice: stay on the ground.

“The safest place to work is on the ground,” Lyons says, emphasising a principle that has guided his career.

Known throughout the industry as the founder of the “Ladders Last” campaign, Lyons has been at the forefront of promoting safer work-at-height practices., first through working with two of the largest construction contracting firms in the US - Gilbane Building Company and Turner Construction, and then through setting up his own safety consulting firm, Lyonetics.

Focus on efficiency

“One of the basics I’ve learned in safety is people don’t care about doing things if it’s safer. If you can somehow tie in production schedule or efficiency, they really pay attention. So the intent in what I call my ‘why analytics’ - my approach to safety - is to focus on production schedule efficiency and get safety by default. They don’t know that they’re making their site safer because they’re excited that they’re going to make more money. But it’s kind of a fundamental that capitalism relies on.”

Lyons recounts the beginnings of the “Ladders Last” campaign, a concept that has now become his signature contribution to construction safety. “Ladders last will probably going to be on my gravestone when I’m dead. But when I started in 2009, we were walking a project and I said to the Superintendent, ‘Hey, man, that guy’s gonna fall off the ladder.’ He says, ‘Yeah.’ So I said, ‘Well, if he was using a scissor lift or a mobile elevating work platform, he could work three times faster.”

TJ Lyons speaks at the Working at Height Conference on Nov. 20. (Photo: Eason Photography)

Lyons recalls returning to the same site in Philadelphia two months later and seeing that the superintendent had applied the idea. “He saw a guy on the ladder and said, ‘Hey man, why don’t you go get a lift? You can do a whole lot more work in a day.’ I recognised then that the approach really works: focusing strictly on safety as the last resort.  Tying it all together is what drives prevention.”

Lyons is blunt about how the US lags behind other countries in adopting best practices. “I will say I think we’re probably 10 or 12 years behind. I’ve probably been to eight or ten countries’ construction sites - some in the Middle East, the UK and Japan. We are a bit behind here in the United States accepting somebody else’s best practices. When you go to the UK, for example, near overhead power lines, long before the power line is like a tennis net that says, ‘Oh, you’re getting too close,’ we don’t do that here. In the States, we just put somebody on the ground and say, ‘Hey, tell Tony when he’s too close to the power lines.’”

He adds that one of his goals in writing and speaking publicly is raising awareness. “There are a lot of best practices in other countries that either we haven’t adopted for many reasons or may not be aware of. I love writing articles on this kind of stuff because a lot of people aren’t aware that there’s a safer way of doing something, because - quote - ‘we’ve always done it this way at this company.’”

Lyons’ philosophy blends safety, efficiency, and practicality. “People truly don’t get killed in the UK the way they do here. I think we kill people five or six times more often than they do over there, which is an astounding number. And after all these years, one of the constants I’ve seen is that if you can make safety part of a workflow that improves productivity, people will follow it. They want to do a good job, and if they see an advantage for themselves or the company, safety becomes a natural by-product.”

Mentoring and educating

For Lyons, mentoring and educating the next generation of safety leaders is just as critical as advocating for change on the ground. He has dedicated much of his career to showing companies how to rethink risk rather than merely respond to incidents. “If you can instil the idea that safety isn’t a burden, but a tool to make your crew more effective, that’s when real change happens,” he says. “It’s not about rules and fear; it’s about designing systems where people are protected by default, and work gets done better because of it.”

Lyons continues to challenge the industry to innovate. From eliminating ladders to promoting mobile elevating platforms and better hazard awareness, he combines practical solutions with a clear-eyed understanding of human behaviour. His approach may be unorthodox, but the results speak for themselves - fewer injuries, more efficient sites, and a culture that genuinely values safety.

“The safest place to work is on the ground,” he repeats, underscoring the principle that has shaped his work, his advocacy, and his reputation as one of the most influential voices in US construction safety.